Your studio or workshop can save a lot of money making and even selling your own brushing glazes to students (at least for common colors and types). The supplies shown here enable printing quality labels on ordinary paper and applying them to jars that cost less than $2. We make the labels by ink-jetting onto regular paper, cutting them 62mm wide (2 7/16") and holding them securely in place using 2 7/8" transparent packing tape.
What about the glazes themselves? Just do what glaze companies do: Add stains to a base transparent glossy or matte glaze (for example G1916Q for cone 04 or G2926B for cone 6). Each 16oz jar needs 350g powder, 450g water, 5g CMC gum and 5g Veegum (leave out the Veegum and use less water for thicker coats). Stains are expensive (5-20 cents/gm here in 2024), at 7.5% (25g) that is $1-5 per jar. The materials for the G1916Q base cost $10/kg, and for G2926B $4/kg. Thus each jar costs $3.33 and $1.33 respectively. 5000g batches would make 15 jars. A best-case is about $5/jar, worst case about $10/jar (compare that with commercials that are about $15-70). Of course, you can save money by looking for deals on materials and stains and recycling jars. Consider other advantages of making your own: You can tune the rheology and adjust recipes to fit your clay bodies (to prevent crazing or shivering) and application methods.
Are you worried about labelled, testing and SDSs? Take a look at ASTM D-4236 and see if you still need to worry.

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This is not sold in jars, I make my own labels to demonstrate that DIY brushing glazes are not only possible, but can be better. The G2917 glaze is less melt-runny than typical floating blues. It contains the standard rutile/iron addition but adds a little cobalt to ensure a good blue color no matter how the kiln cools. The L4655 Alberta Slip floating blue (left), contains no rutile, iron or even cobalt - it employs titanium dioxide (using iron available in the body and slow cooling as the mechanism of the blue). Both have a big advantage over the original G2826R recipe from 50 years ago: they don't contain any Gerstley Borate, so the slurries don't turn to jelly in the bucket, both mix naturally as thixotropic dipping glazes.

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Let's make a DIY low SG version of G2934BL. Weigh out 340g of dipping glaze powder. Include 5g Veegum (to gel the slurry to enable more than normal water) and 5g CMC gum (for slow drying and brushing properties). Shake-mix all the powder in a plastic bag. Pour it into 440g water, blender mix on low speed, then finish with 20 seconds on high speed. This fills a 500ml jar. In subsequent batches, I adjust the Veegum for more or less gel, the CMC for slower or faster drying and the water amount for thicker or thinner painted layers. Dipping glaze recipes can and do respond differently to the gums. Those having little clay content work well (e.g. reactive and crystalline glazes). If bentonite is present, it is often best to leave it out. Recipes having high percentages of ball clay or kaolin might work best with less Veegum. Keep good notes (with pictures) to reach the objective of good brushing properties. Use code-numbering on the jars and test pieces.
Here is some incentive: Brushing glazes have gotten to the point where it can cost $5 to glaze one mug! This is so worthwhile doing that I make custom labels for each jar!
| URLs |
https://www.uline.ca/BL_6409/3M-Label-Protection-Tape
3M Label Protection tape |
| URLs |
https://www.uline.ca/BL_7304/Label-Protection-Tape-Dispensers
3M Label Protection Dispenser |
| URLs |
https://www.uline.ca/Product/Detail/S-14510/Jars/White-Round-Wide-Mouth-Plastic-Jars-16-oz-White-Cap
White 16oz 500ml plaster jars |
| Glossary |
Food Safe
Be skeptical of claims of food safety from potters who cannot explain or demonstrate why. Investigate the basis of manufacturer claims and labelling and the actual use to which their products are put. |
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